Where were they mate? I had 2 c-47s/dc3s and a bren gun carrier , one of the dakotas ended up being turned a bar.
G'day mate!
The C-47 was at Silver stream in Lower Hutt, fueslage on blocks and wings stacked on top of each other next to it. A check on the net shows this was C-47 ZK-BYF, later restored and displayed at the Ohakea wing of the RNZAF Museum, going to Gisbourne airport in 2000.
The C-47 on posts at Fielding (ex NZ3556/ ZK-AOK - now a cafe) was a favourite of mine too on the regular travels/ moves round the North Island, and also often saw the Dak on posts at Rotorua (ZK-CAW) a McDonald's restaurant last time I saw it.
The TBF-1 was on open display in the parking lot of small arts'n'crafts/ rest area between Waikanae and Bulls. A check on the net shows this was probably NZ2505, ex Silver stream, which then dispappeared from there, but saw her again (without realising it was the same Avenger) about 10 years later when posted to Wigram in '91.
Being the museum's 'spare' Avenger, she also went on to Gisbourne apparently, for full restoration.
The Stuart and Walker Bulldog, etc were the open air displays at the Waiouru army museum. A plate was removed below the Stuart's engine and as a kid I could crawl in through there and enter the drivers area via the cutout for the missing engine transmission
Subjects of 'continued investigation' in the RNZAF were (at Woodbourne) the retired Safe Air Argosys, RNZAF instructional airframes (Bell 47, Strikemaster, DH 104, etc), Airtrainer wreckage, A-4s, C-130 and P-3K under servicing, and the four retired Air New Zealand F27 Friendships. At Wigram, the RNZAF Museum public displays, and the then privately stored aircraft in the restoration and storage hangars, since also opened to the public since the base closed down.
How about what you saw - which Dak's were they and where was that Bren Gun carrier? Love those things....